Leaf Basketball Autographs

 I've ventured into the realm of autographs on more than one occassion (ok, several occasions), but have never bothered to spend any hard earned dollars taking a chance on something such as Leaf's Autographed Photos.  These are fairly expensive (around $130, depending where you go) for taking a chance at a famous player autograph.  According to this site:  cardboardconnection  there are at least 24 in the checklist.  Each box contains a slabbed, Beckett authenticated autographed photo.

  This is not something I'd be inclined to give a go, but as luck would have it, my brother and a friend decided to try their luck.  What they pulled were players from a bygone era, and they didn't recognize the names.  So who do you think wound up with these?  Yep, this guy.

And who did they pull?  A pair of Celtics!  Two Hall of Famers to boot!  I'll admit I had to look up Bill Sharman and his impressive career, not just as a player but also a coach.  I did however, recognize Havlicek's name as his career was winding down when I was a young boy.  As you can tell, these are encased as an 8x10, but the photo clearly is not that size.

My first impression of these was hey, this is pretty cool!  It's an authentic photo from hall of famers that I might not chase or ever get a chance to meet.  I also like the way Beckett encases these.  However the photo themselves (my bad scanner not withstanding) could use a bit of an upgrade.  Firstly these look like someone printed them out using a $30 printer from a big box retailer.  Secondly, the paper stock is clearly not photo stock, nor is it glossy and the signatures bleed through to the back (though I didn't scan that).  That indicates its your typical 20lb paper everyone buys for their home printer.

Despite those two drawbacks, I did purchase one for myself.  Though I cheated as it was displayed in a LCS.  I mean, who could turn down a Sir Barkley auto?